Chapter 583 Soaring (Part 2)

Xu Lingyi whispered: "You said, Yu'er's marriage is difficult, what's the difficulty?" The main reason is that Xu Siyu was born into a noble family but was the eldest son of a maid.

But Shiyi Niang couldn't say this in front of Xu Lingyi.

Xu Lingyi didn't want her to answer. He said in a deep voice: "The difficulty lies in where is his way out?"

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but nodded.

Xu Lingyi hit the nail on the head.

Xu Lingyi's son can be favored, but this favor is limited. Xu Lingyi also has his own young stepmother. According to common sense, she will bring more children to the Xu family in the future. The chance of Xu Siyu getting this quota will become increasingly slim with the birth of younger brothers and sisters.

As the saying goes, marrying a man means having clothes and food. If a family is poor, ten taels of silver can support them for several years. But Xu Siyu was born in a rich family. Not to mention other things, he would need several hundred taels of silver a year just to entertain guests. Who would be willing to marry their daughter to a man who could hardly afford clothes and food?

"If Yu'er passes the exam, it's not a big deal." Seeing that Shiyi Niang agreed, Xu Lingyi continued, "But at least he won't have to kneel in court, and he won't be exempted from corvée and land tax. Even if he doesn't have any favors, with the power of our family, it won't be difficult for him to become a minor official. In addition, he is the eldest son of a concubine, so he can live independently after getting married." As he said this, he laughed, "So I say, you can just wait to choose a wife when the time comes!"

"What a fool, Lord!" Eleventh Lady scolded, "You scared me. I thought Lord had already set his eyes on a girl from a certain family and was just waiting for Yu'er to pass the imperial examination so that he could propose marriage. After all this talk, it's still like a flower in the mirror or a moon in the water!"

"Don't worry, don't worry." Xu Lingyi smiled and comforted her, "You are older, more settled, and know how to live your life. It's too early to get married. You two are still children. Sometimes you can just be patient and take a step back, but you start to quarrel while talking about it. In the end, you have a knot in your heart, and your love fades, and you become a couple of resentment."

Is it his own empathy?

Eleventh Lady wanted to ask a question, but when she saw the hint of sadness between his brows, she felt quite regretful and swallowed the words.

She brought up a more cheerful topic: "Your Highness may not know yet? Madam Wen and I sorted out a lot of clothes that Zhen'er wore when she was a child and sent them to Cangzhou two days ago. The people who came back said that Zhen'er is in a good condition now. Her mother-in-law is afraid of her, so she specially invited a niece-in-law from her mother's family who is eloquent and has given birth to four sons to be a guest at home, to chat with Zhen'er and take care of her food, accommodation and transportation. In a few days, it will be August 15th. I want to write a letter of thanks and let the person who sent the Mid-Autumn Festival gift take it to Cangzhou. What do you think, Your Highness?"

"We don't need to write a thank-you letter for this, right?" Xu Lingyi hesitated, "She is the mother-in-law, and we can't say anything about how she wants to treat Zhen Jie'er!"

"Oh, I'm just helping Zhenjie to appease her mother-in-law!" Eleventh Lady disagreed.

"Who doesn't want to hear nice words? If we do this, she will have face, and Zhen Jie'er will be more tolerant of anything she can't do." Then he smiled and said, "I calculated the date, and Zhen Jie'er will give birth in two months. I don't know if it's a daughter or a son? The maid I sent to deliver something to Zhen Jie'er came back and said that judging from Zhen Jie'er's appearance, it should be a daughter. But I always feel that she is deceiving me to give me money. When I was pregnant with Jin Ge'er, everyone said that it looked like a daughter?"

Xu Lingyi listened to her nagging, so he leaned close to her face and asked her in a low voice: "What about you?"

"What?" Eleventh Lady didn't understand for a moment.

Xu Lingyi laughed softly: "You gave away all of our brother's clothes. What will our son wear then?"

"Jin'er is grown up now, and he doesn't need those clothes anymore..." Shiyi Niang said, and suddenly understood what Xu Lingyi was referring to. She couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable, and paused for a moment before saying, "Everyone says that Jin'er is a blessed man. The Crown Prince's wife was able to give birth to the eldest grandson of the Emperor smoothly, all because of his blessing... I also want to comfort Zhenjie'er..."

"The emperor's eldest grandson is blessed by Jian Ge'er?" Xu Lingyi was stunned. "Who said that?"

"You really don't know?" Eleventh Lady smiled and covered her mouth. "Two days ago, I went to see Madam Gan. At the residence of the Earl of Zhongqin, I met the fourth wife of the Tang family of the Marquis of Zhongshan. When she saw our Jian'er, her eyes sparkled. She insisted that we go to her house as guests. Her wife is already pregnant with her fourth child, all girls, and she wanted our Jian'er to sit on her bed. If I hadn't told her that Princess Fucheng had sent someone to ask me to go to the Princess's residence, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to leave. Even so, she still didn't believe it and only parted ways with us at the door of the Princess's residence. Otherwise, I wouldn't have rashly visited Sister Zhou's house!"

Xu Lingyi laughed and teased Shiyi Niang: "I think he should go sit on his mother's bed first!"

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but hit him on the shoulder: "You little devil!"

"I'm talking seriously." Xu Lingyi teased her with a smile, "Tell me the truth, how many pieces of Jiange'er's clothes have you given to others..."

Eleventh Lady laughed so hard: "How can you be like that... I gave a few pieces to Zhen Jie'er, two pieces to Madam Tang Si, and two pieces to Princess Yong'an before..."

The two chatted and laughed, which made Xu Lingyi temporarily forget the emotion of Wang Jiubao's conviction. In August, it rained heavily in Yanjing.

Eleventh Lady looked at Xu Siyu's brand new royal blue gown with a black floral pattern of "Step by Step" and said with a smile, "Fortunately your father reminded me to take out your examination basket and examination curtain to dry in June. Otherwise it would be terrible!" She then said, "The Marquis said that this examination basket and examination curtain accompanied you through the county and prefectural examinations, and will definitely accompany you in the provincial and metropolitan examinations in the future."

As the examination was approaching, she wanted to give Xu Siyu more encouragement.

Xu Siyu smiled and said nothing, but his eyes lit up.

Xu Lingyi was not used to Shiyi Niang saying such things in front of her son. He coughed lightly and said calmly, "Well, it's getting late. After you greet your grandmother, you should go out. Otherwise, everyone will come and block the road.

Even on rainy days, you still have to walk to the examination room." Then he instructed Xu Sizhen who was standing beside him, "Go with Chief Steward Bai to send your brother to the examination room!"

The two brothers bowed and replied respectfully, "Yes."

The boy ran over.

He took Xu Siyu's hand, blinked his big eyes and looked up at his brother: "I want to go too!"

Xu Siyu laughed.

He bent down and said gently, "Wait until you are older before going!"

Eleventh Lady hurriedly carried him over and said, "Brother, please don't make a fuss. I'll tell you a story later."

Jiange'er was also old enough to listen to stories, just like Xu Siyi. He told them over and over again until his mouth was dry and he never stopped.

Although Jianjiang was not going to go with them, Jian'er pouted and seemed a little unhappy.

Shiyi Niang was afraid that he would affect Xu Siyu's mood, so she hurried Xu Siyu out: "I'll let Zhu Xiang take you to grandma! Grandma is also worried about you going to the exam. By now, she should have gotten up long ago!"

Xu Siyu said "hmm" but did not leave immediately. Instead, he asked Jiange'er: "What do you like to eat? I'll bring it to you when I come back!"

Jiange'er had never eaten anything from outside, and unlike Xu Siyi when he was a child, he would eat a piece of candy with gusto. Although he was never picky about food, he never asked for something.

He tilted his head and thought for a long time, then looked at Shiyi Niang and said, "Eat some crispy fish!"

Everyone couldn't help laughing.

I fried crispy fish for breakfast today.

After laughing, Xu Siyu said seriously: "Chunxilou should have fried fish. I will bring it to you after I leave the examination room!"

Jiange'er snuggled up to Shiyi Niang with a smile on his face.

Xu Lingyi said, "Just take your test seriously. Send a servant to buy him some fried fish."

Neither the father nor the son had any intention of deceiving Jian'er.

Eleventh Lady felt relieved. She was most afraid that adults would make random promises to children because they thought they were young and ignorant, and then fail to fulfill the promises. Over time, children would lose trust in adults.

When Xu Siyu was done, Jian Ge'er came back with the small crispy fish. Unfortunately, Jian Ge'er had already fallen asleep.

Xu Siyu said apologetically, "I was planning to come back earlier, but Brother Fang was waiting for me outside the examination room and asked me to have tea... There were also some of his classmates and colleagues, so I asked Sizhu to come back and tell them the news... I wanted to hand it to him personally, but the conversation took a little longer..."

You can imagine. It's like a class reunion the day after the college entrance exam. No matter how well you did in the exam, you can talk about it in private. As for whether to go to the previous book or review, that's something to consider in two days.

She smiled and said, "It's okay. I'll give it to him tomorrow!"

Xu Siyu left apologetically. Xu Lingyi, who was sitting on the kang next to the window waiting for Xu Siyu to come back, put down the book in his hand and said, "When did he become so close to Fang Tanhua?"

I had someone guard the door before, and when Xu Siyu came back, I asked him to come over and greet him. But when he saw Xu Siyu, he didn't ask a single question. Eleventh Lady couldn't help but smile.

"Yu'er and Fang Tanhua have always been good friends!" she said, "but they each had their own views on the issue of Qin'er's daughter-in-law. Now that the two families have reconciled, they have become closer."

Xu Lingyi nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

The next morning, when Jiange'er woke up, he saw a bag of fried fish on the bedside table and looked a little confused.

"This was bought by the Second Young Master at Chunxi Tower for the Sixth Young Master," said Mother Gu. "When he brought it to me last night, you were already asleep."

Jiangeer was delighted, picked up the crispy fish and ran into Shiyi Niang's inner room: "Mom, mom, my second brother bought me some crispy fish!"

Shiyi Niang smiled and kissed Jian Ge'er on the cheek: "Remember to thank your second brother when you see him later!"

Jiange nodded, and seeing Xu Siyu thanked him obediently. "No need!" Xu Siyu smiled and touched Jiange's head.

A little maid ran in and said, "Madam, did the Second Madam ask if the Second Young Master came to greet you? If he did, please ask the Second Young Master to go to Shaohua Courtyard."

Before she finished speaking, another maid ran in, "Madam, Sister Yuban, who is beside the Madam, came over. She said she was following the Madam's orders and asked if the Second Young Master had come. If he had, she would let him pass!"

Yesterday, Xu Siyu came back too late, and neither the first lady nor the second lady waited for him. They were concerned about how Xu Siyu did in the exam, right?

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but laugh. On the contrary, Xu Lingyi didn't ask a single question. She ordered, "Go quickly! Be careful not to make the Madam and your second aunt wait anxiously!" Xu Siyu left immediately.

A few days later, news came from Shuntian Prefecture that Xu Siyu had ranked ninth in the exam and became a student on government stipend in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Not only could he attend classes at the government school, but he could also receive six bushels of rice every month.